Experts Respond To Questions About Roundup Ready Alfalfa

Mon, 2008-12-29 10:09

Wanting to keep science in the debates over the release of Roundup Ready alfalfa, two extension forage specialists joined forces to come up with...

Wanting to keep science in the debates over the release of Roundup Ready alfalfa, two extension forage specialists joined forces to come up with a paper they hope will answer grower and industry representatives’ questions about the transgenic crop.

Dan Putnam, University of California-Davis, and Dan Undersander, University of Wisconsin, wrote a 14-point paper called “Understanding Roundup Ready.” They’re anticipating a likely January or February USDA public comment period on the environmental impact statement required by the court that stopped the sale of the transgenic seed. The specialists want the public fully informed, they say.

“We want to dispel some of those myths,” says Undersander, that growers and industry people are hearing about hayfield and seed contamination and other issues.

A synopsis of the paper is in the January issue of Hay & Forage Grower, entitled “Roundup Ready Reality?” page 12. To read the paper in its entirety, click here.